I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I've had this for awhile. My backlog stack got pretty high there for awhile when I went back to school and started having small grandkids in the house.

That said, I really enjoyed this. I needed something different and short to pass the time on a Saturday night, and this was the perfect fit. Who doesn't love the original Star Trek.

Set at some point after The Voyage Home, this story gives us what at first seems to be the typical Where No Man Has Gone Before episode of our original crew. The timing is important though, as we soon learn that Lt. Saavik is on helm rather than Sulu, and her part in the story is crucial.

Aside from that, we can settle in and enjoy a never before seen adventure of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the crew.

For a good bit of the early going I found this to be enjoyable but predictable, but then Cox threw that idea into the fire and I realized we were in for something new. I have to say, this has got to be the bloodiest Star Trek story I've ever encountered :)

All in all, this book was a great escape into a comfort zone, if only for a little while.

Approaching the 50th Anniversary of "Star Trek" is interesting because it requires a balance of what was before versus the aspect of what is today. With the new novella "Miasma" [Greg Cox/Pocket/112pgs], it mixes the aspect of the old series but taking into account what happened in the movies which is a new approach in many regards. Having taken place after "The Voyage Home" but it seems before V and VI, the story gives an aspect of the original mission but with the experience of the movies. The visualization is interesting because you move between iterations of what Spock, Chekov and Kirk look like. Yet we know Sulu is in command of another starship. The novella is short and quick and focuses on landing on an alien planet, not unlike in the original series. The differences here lie in the aspect of psychology of the characters since the way they approach things has dynamically shifted in certain regards and not in others. Also of interest is the internal dialogue which one never gets to see in the movies and which expands certain psychoses of what these characters truly are. The good thing is that the author understands the voices while giving it an expansive concept. The other thing is the visuals and violence shown is much more pronounced than what could have been done in the 60s in terms of the explorations of these planets. All these things make the storytelling undeniably new and fresh without an extensive narrative since the formula is already set up. The visuals are much more interesting as well since with CG we can see exactly how a creature would look. It would be very interesting to see a new school series with these old school set up. On top of this, the inclusion of how Lt. Saavik (played by Kirstie Alley and Robin Curtis in the movies) expands in terms of character development shows how much more could really have been done. This novella bodes well to doing more of these in the future because they are the best of treats: quick, sweet and to the point.

A-

By Tim Wassberg

I was never really a huge Star Trek fan until the latest films were brought out a few years back, since then I have read more of the books and watched more of the episodes of the TV series and the films available. I really enjoyed this book and it was a great quick read full of drama featuring the main Star Trek cast, I had it on my TBR list for a while but chose to read it over the New Year period - so glad I did - easy 4 stars from me.